Manent on Machiavellai and Motion
"Machiavelli's boldness is such that he endeavors by every means to make motion itself appears the norm, in any case is what should be taken into account above all else. The very radical character of this thinking will prevent his being taken seriously as a philosopher: where are his 'ideas'?...
"One cannot help noticing a connection between this transformation [of focusing on motion in politics] and the one that took place a century later in physics, which abandoned the notions of final cause and proper place, and took as its task the discovery of the laws of motion... It must be knowledged them that it was a political author -- Machiavelli -- who was the first place at the center of attention a motion does not tend toward any rest, a pure motion." -- Metamorphoses of the City, p. 206
"One cannot help noticing a connection between this transformation [of focusing on motion in politics] and the one that took place a century later in physics, which abandoned the notions of final cause and proper place, and took as its task the discovery of the laws of motion... It must be knowledged them that it was a political author -- Machiavelli -- who was the first place at the center of attention a motion does not tend toward any rest, a pure motion." -- Metamorphoses of the City, p. 206
Will you be reviewing Metamorphoses? I read it on the strength of your extracts. I can't decide if it was one of the most important books I ever read, or if I just didn't understand it at all. Anyway, thank-you for drawing my attention to this.
ReplyDeleteYes I will. Unfortunately for an obscure journal: History: Review of New Books.
DeleteBut I can pass it on to you via mail.
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